Padres-Astros Preview

The San Diego Padres finally broke through against the Houston
Astros' struggling bullpen but still couldn't pull out a win.

With Roy Oswalt taking the mound in the finale, San Diego may
again have to be patient for its scoring chances.

Oswalt looks to continue his dominance of the Padres and give
the Astros their first three-game sweep of 2009 on Sunday at
Minute Maid Park.

After getting dominated by starter Brian Moehler for seven
innings on Saturday night, San Diego (13-18) took a 4-3 lead by
scoring three runs off Astros relievers in the eighth.

Houston's bullpen has blown four of five save opportunities
while giving up 22 runs - 20 earned - in 21 2-3 innings over the
last six games, including a disheartening performance at
Washington on Tuesday. That game was suspended in the 11th
inning with the teams tied 10-all.

Despite their bullpen issues against the Padres on Saturday, the
Astros (13-17) answered with two runs in the bottom half of the
eighth en route to a 5-4 victory and putting themselves in
position for their first sweep of the year.

The Astros have to like their chances doing so with Oswalt (0-2,
4.26 ERA) taking the mound. The right-hander is 8-2 with a 2.62
ERA in 13 career games - 11 starts - against the Padres. He's
also won three straight home starts against them, posting a 1.57
ERA.

Though he's been effective against San Diego, Oswalt is still
looking for his first win this season. He left his last start
Tuesday with an injured finger on his pitching hand after giving
up four runs and four hits over five innings against the
Nationals. That game will resume July 9 in Houston.

Oswalt said the injury was a bone bruise on his index finger,
but he never expected to miss a start.

Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, a career .329 hitter
against Houston, is 5-for-10 with a home run and two strikeouts
lifetime against Oswalt.

Oswalt hopes some support from outfielder Hunter Pence will help
him get in the win column. Pence is 12-for-32 (.375) with three
RBIs and six runs scored in nine games this month. He drove in
both runs in a 2-0 win Friday and scored the go-ahead run with
no outs in the eighth inning Saturday, racing home from third
base on a chopper to the pitcher.

"I was saying no, no, no," manager Cecil Cooper said, "then I
was saying yes, yes. That's just Hunter's aggressiveness.
Sometimes he's a little too aggressive but I wouldn't change a
thing about him. That's how we want him to play."

Giving up the lead obviously wasn't an ideal result for Padres
manager Bud Black, but he was encouraged nonetheless with his
team's comeback.

"It was a great sign we rallied, got some big hits," he said. "I
hope this is a sign of things to come."

The Padres will hand the ball to Josh Geer (0-0, 3.96) for his
first start in Houston since he starred at nearby Rice
University. The right-hander was very sharp in his last outing
Tuesday, pitching a career-high eight innings and holding
Colorado to one run and five hits in San Diego's 2-1, 10-inning
victory.

"He's getting a good feel for what he needs to do to win games,"
Black said of Geer, who has never faced the Astros.